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Long Range Hunting & Shooting
Field Practice to Make Better Hunting Shots
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<blockquote data-quote="30calyooper" data-source="post: 1671664" data-attributes="member: 107258"><p>Sounds like you're on the right track. So, my view of the basics - here goes:</p><p></p><p>- Practicing from the bench or shall we say at least a solid rest (hood of my pickup is pretty solid!) allows the shooter to work on fundamentals such as control of breathing and trigger practice (yep, no two launchers are exactly the same due to grip, LOP, all that jazz) plus proper sighting and even timing for wind drift. Like I said, fundamentals. And for testing loads and the primary part of sighting in a scope - well, to me it's the most practical way to test for velocity and accuracy, and get the scope set so you can move on to actual field practice and confirming your load's flight path over various distances. To sum it up, this sort of practice is important to stay sharp and get your rig set up.</p><p></p><p>- Practice from field shooting positions, AKA hunting positions: this is where the rubber meets the road. Here you'll learn to adjust your body positioning and/or sighting as needed to actually git 'er dun when the stars align and your critter shows up. In many ways this form of practice is more important, but you won't get much out of it until you've got the fundamentals working properly. When you know you're doing everything else right, it's easy to figure out whether or not you need to make adjustments to your stance etc. in order to keep things working effectively.</p><p></p><p>In an earlier post one of the folks mentioned shooting an 8" group offhand at 100 yds with the 243. Doesn't sound impressive when you're thinking 1/2 moa groups, but it's really not that bad! Here's two very important questions - </p><p>#1, how far are you really willing to take an offhand shot? If you can do that 8" group consistently and it's a close range situation - like say you jumped a buck so shoot now or watch him disappear - good chance that 8" group at 100 is probably going to be followed by field dressing and dragging. Not recommending anyone take a shot with poor odds of killing the critter, but again if you have practiced offhand enough to be confident AND the killing shot is there, why not? I've filled lots of antlerless deer tags in the north woods this way, where the shots are often 100 yards or less. </p><p>#2 - NOW - suppose the distance is 200 or more - well, to be honest I won't shoot offhand that far if I can drop to a supported position and increase my stability. Won't say I haven't tried it and even gotten lucky a time or two, but I also know my limits - if I have to shoot that fast and that far, I'm taking undesirable chances. I can live with the fact that my ability is limited a lot easier than I could live with myself if I start exhibiting poor hunter's ethics.</p><p>SO - whenever time permits, get as much support as you can. Generally speaking the farther your shot has to go, the more time you will have to set for it whether that means kneeling, sitting or prone, with a bipod or over your pack, or a stump, etc. Or a tree to lean against sideways if one is available. In the real world, I will use anything I can to make myself steadier for that shot - beats missing or worse, wounding and losing a game animal because I did not do my best.</p><p>Practice from every position that makes sense for the hunt you are going on! Keep it real - if you are hunting pronghorn, you probably won't get a lot of good offhand shooting opportunities, and may not have trees to lean against...but a tall bipod might be worth its weight in gold. And a fencepost is a whole lot steadier than offhand in the wind!</p><p>Practice as much and as many ways as you can afford to - we're all reading this because we like shooting our rifles, and the time spent practicing is never wasted!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="30calyooper, post: 1671664, member: 107258"] Sounds like you're on the right track. So, my view of the basics - here goes: - Practicing from the bench or shall we say at least a solid rest (hood of my pickup is pretty solid!) allows the shooter to work on fundamentals such as control of breathing and trigger practice (yep, no two launchers are exactly the same due to grip, LOP, all that jazz) plus proper sighting and even timing for wind drift. Like I said, fundamentals. And for testing loads and the primary part of sighting in a scope - well, to me it's the most practical way to test for velocity and accuracy, and get the scope set so you can move on to actual field practice and confirming your load's flight path over various distances. To sum it up, this sort of practice is important to stay sharp and get your rig set up. - Practice from field shooting positions, AKA hunting positions: this is where the rubber meets the road. Here you'll learn to adjust your body positioning and/or sighting as needed to actually git 'er dun when the stars align and your critter shows up. In many ways this form of practice is more important, but you won't get much out of it until you've got the fundamentals working properly. When you know you're doing everything else right, it's easy to figure out whether or not you need to make adjustments to your stance etc. in order to keep things working effectively. In an earlier post one of the folks mentioned shooting an 8" group offhand at 100 yds with the 243. Doesn't sound impressive when you're thinking 1/2 moa groups, but it's really not that bad! Here's two very important questions - #1, how far are you really willing to take an offhand shot? If you can do that 8" group consistently and it's a close range situation - like say you jumped a buck so shoot now or watch him disappear - good chance that 8" group at 100 is probably going to be followed by field dressing and dragging. Not recommending anyone take a shot with poor odds of killing the critter, but again if you have practiced offhand enough to be confident AND the killing shot is there, why not? I've filled lots of antlerless deer tags in the north woods this way, where the shots are often 100 yards or less. #2 - NOW - suppose the distance is 200 or more - well, to be honest I won't shoot offhand that far if I can drop to a supported position and increase my stability. Won't say I haven't tried it and even gotten lucky a time or two, but I also know my limits - if I have to shoot that fast and that far, I'm taking undesirable chances. I can live with the fact that my ability is limited a lot easier than I could live with myself if I start exhibiting poor hunter's ethics. SO - whenever time permits, get as much support as you can. Generally speaking the farther your shot has to go, the more time you will have to set for it whether that means kneeling, sitting or prone, with a bipod or over your pack, or a stump, etc. Or a tree to lean against sideways if one is available. In the real world, I will use anything I can to make myself steadier for that shot - beats missing or worse, wounding and losing a game animal because I did not do my best. Practice from every position that makes sense for the hunt you are going on! Keep it real - if you are hunting pronghorn, you probably won't get a lot of good offhand shooting opportunities, and may not have trees to lean against...but a tall bipod might be worth its weight in gold. And a fencepost is a whole lot steadier than offhand in the wind! Practice as much and as many ways as you can afford to - we're all reading this because we like shooting our rifles, and the time spent practicing is never wasted! [/QUOTE]
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